Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister will acknowledge that public trust in the national broadcaster has been shattered following crisis after crisis and scandal after scandal. We can see that reflected in the licence fee. Of those who are eligible to pay the licence fee, approximately one in three do not pay. That is how much of a drop-off we have, mostly brought on by the RTÉ scandal. The Future of Media Commission identified this is a problem in the future anyway, since fewer people will pay and with a growing population and so on, the State would be paying their portion. It also noted that it is an unfair and regressive charge. It said the fee is the same whether the person earns €20,000 or €200,000. These are the experts that the Government put in place. They recommended that the Government abolish it and fund public sector content through Exchequer funding. The Government has had the report for three years, it has been published for two years and it has still not taken any decisions. I will put it to the Minister directly. As Minister for Finance, has he or is he aware of his Department engaging with Revenue with the potential of collecting a new charge that would apply to TVs?

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